Sep 19, 2026
•
10 min read
One Chicago storefront in 1974 became the largest Indian grocery chain in America. The strategy was following people, not markets.
A Westchester family put a beer bar and a pizza oven inside a supermarket. The strategy behind it is sharper than it looks.
An Appalachian grocery chain owns its stores, its land and its milk plant. That combination explains almost everything about how it survives.
A Northern California chain charges more than the competition and keeps people coming. The reason has almost nothing to do with the food.
A Reno chain chose the slower way to make a sandwich on purpose. Here is the business logic behind a deliberately inefficient decision.
A Kansas City chain built a fast growing business on a four item menu and an island meal most of its customers had never eaten.
A Wyoming chain owns the northern plains and almost nothing else. That is not a failure to expand. It is a different bet entirely.
11 min read
Two college friends in Georgia decided to go where the giant was not. The strategy behind that choice is worth understanding.
A German Russian immigrant recipe became a Lincoln institution and then a franchise. The business lesson is about staying small on purpose.
